Transportable containers



June 14, 1966 s. PROLER ETAL 32 9 TRANSPORTABLE CONTAINERS OriginalFiled June 21, 1961 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 I I I a 30 230 $24 /a M 22 J2 J0 J21 22 /f j /0 j (c) o 0 0 o Jam Pro/ex Her/9700 Pro INVENTORS ATTO/P/VflJune 14, 1966 s. PROLER ETAL 3,255,906

TRANSPORTABLE CONTAINERS 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed June 21, 1961"WI mm Jam Pro/er Her/7700 4/ Pro/er INVENTORS v" *3 ATTORNEY June 14,1966 s. PROLER ETAL 3,255,906

TRANSPORTABLE CONTAINERS Original Filed June 21, 1961 7 Sheets-Sheet 3Jam Pro/er Her/77 0/7 4/. Pro/er HVVENTURS June 14, 1966 s. PROLER ETAL3,255,906

TRANSPORTABLE CONTAINERS Original Filed June 21, 1961 7 Sheets-Sheet 4Jam Pro/er Her/77 0/7 4/. Pro/er INVENTORJ kw/g June 14, 1966 s. PROLERETAL TRANSPORTABLE CONTAINERS 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed June 21,1961 INVENTORJ' ATTORNEY June 14, 1966 s. PROLER ETAL TRANSPORTABLECONTAINERS Original Filed June 21, 1961 J0? Pro/er Her/77a Pro/erINVENTORS BY wa 441 ATTORNEY United States Patent Continuation ofapplication Ser. No. 119,900, June 21,

1961. This application Oct. 21, 1964, Ser. No. 423,617 4 Claims. (Cl.214390) This application is a continuation of our copending applicationSerial No. 119,900, filed June 21, 1961, and now abandoned, which was acontinuation-in-part of Serial No. 106,936, filed May 1, 1961, which wasa continuation-inpart of Serial No. 101,224, filed April 6, 1961, allnow abandoned.

This invention relates to transportable containers and more particularlyit relates to containers which are readily moved from place to place bymeans of a truck or tractor trailer combination especially adapted foruse with such a container. The invention also relates to the combinationof such specially adapted trucks or tractor trailer combination with thecontainer. The invention further relates to a method for handlingtransportable containers.

In the transporting of goods to various locations and the loading andunloading of these goods it is often necessary in many industries to uselarge trucks or tractor trailer combinations which are often tied up formany hours or even for days at the location at which the truck is to beloaded or unloaded. It will readily be seen that this means that acomplete truck is inactivated for long periods of time so that it cannotbe used for other hauling operations. In many cases the driver is alsoidled by the necessity for leaving his truck at one location while it isbeing loaded and/or unloaded. Thus the owners or operators of the truckare required to have on hand a much larger number of trucks than arenecessary for hauling operations, although many of these are idle agreat part of the time. Each of these trucks must be licensed, insured,and maintained. The cost of such licensing, insuring and maintenance issubstantially the same on a truck whether it is active one hundredpercent of the time or only ten percent of the time.

It is an object of this invention to provide apparatus for transportinggoods, the use of which apparatus wi'il avoid the idling of the truckand its driver while the container is being loaded and unloaded.

It is another object of this invention to provide transportablecontainers for goods the use of which greatly reduces the operatingexpense of the owner or operator of the transporting equipment.

These and otherobjects of this invention are attained by the provisionof a container which is readily loaded and unloaded and unloaded from atruck or a specially designed trailer so that a single truck or trailercan be used for the handling ofmany containers.

For a better understanding of this invention reference is now made tothe accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a tractor trailer combinationpreparing to load one of the containers of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view of a tractor trailer combination in theprocess of loading one of the con tainers of this invention;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view of a tractor trailer combination withone of the containers of this invention loaded thereon;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of an embodiment of the trailer used in thecombination of this invention;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged elevational View of an embodiment of thecontainer of this invention, portions being removed therefrom forclarity;

FIGURE 6 is a vertical sectional view of the embodiment of FIGURE 5taken at line 66 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is an elevational view of another embodiment of this inventiondepicting a bobtail truck carrying one of the containers of thisinvention;

FIGURE 8 is an elevational view of the embodiment of FIGURE 7 showingthe container in a dumping position;

FIGURE 9 is a side elevational view of the container of FIGURE 7 and 8shown in a position at rest;

FIGURE 10 is a rear elevational view of the container shown in FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 11 is a side elevational view of still another embodiment of thisinvention depicting a novel bobtail truck carrying one of the containersof this invention;

FIGURE 12 is a plan view of the novel bobtail truck shown in FIGURE 11;

FIGURE 13 depicts another embodiment ofa tractortrailer combination;

FIGURE 14 is a plan view of another embodiment of the invention adaptedto a bobtail truck;

FIGURE 15 is an elevational view of one embodiment of one of thecontainers of this invention;

FIGURE 16 is an elevational view of a modification of the bobtailconstruction shown in FIGURES 7-10;

FIGURE 17 is an isometric view of a portion of the underside of thecontainer shown in FIGURE 16;

Referring first to FIGURE 1 of the drawing it willbe seen that in theembodiment shown a tractor 10 has attached thereto by means of theconventional fifth wheel 12 a tandem trailer 14. As shown in FIGURE 1the tractor trailer is just preparing to load or has just unloaded acontainer 16, which is shown as a gondola. As

is apparent in FIGURES 1 through 4, trailer 14 is provided with rearwheels 18 which together with fifth wheel 12 provide support for thetrailer. Referring more particularly to FIGURE 4 it will be noted thatin the embodiment shown the trailer is bifurcated for a purpose whichwill hereinafter become apparent. The trailer is provided with aplurality of fluid cylinders 20 atiixed thereto.

Container 16 is provided with extensible support means comprising frontleg 22 and rear legs 24.. The legs 22 and 24 are extensible to a lengthsufficient to support the container at a height wherein the bottom ofthe container is above the top of the trailer. The body of the containeris formed with external frame members 26 so that the walls 28 will havea smooth interior surface.

It will be apparent that the tractor is used to back the trailer 14under the container which is supported on its legs 22 and 24. When thetrailer is properly positioned under the container the fluid cylinders20 are actuated by means of a fluid pressuring system aboard the tractorso as to cause the piston rods 30 of the fluid cylinders to moveupwardly and engage the container, preferably at the centering caps 32which are aflixed to the bottom of the container. The fluid pressure ofthe cylinders forces the container upward so that the weight of thecontainer no longer rests on legs 22 and 24. These legs are thenelevated in the manner shown in FIGURE 2. Fluid pressure is thenrelieved from the fluid cylinders 20 so that the container is loweredonto the trailer 14 as is shown in FIGURE 3.

FIGURES 5 and 6 depict in somewhat greater detail the elements of oneembodiment of the container of this invention. As shown in FIGURE 5 therear leg 24 is a telescoping leg wherein the outer sleeve 34 is affixedto a frame member 26 of the container and an inner member 36 is slidablydisposed therein. Member 36 is provided with a flat plate 38 on thelower end thereof in order to provide a larger bearing surface of theleg against the ground. Means are provided for releasably retaining thelegs in a ground-engaging position or, alternatively, in a retractedposition. In the embodiment shown, outer sleeve 34 is provided withupper and lower transverse apertures 40 and 42 respectively and innermember 36 is provided with a corresponding transverse aperture 44 nearits upper end. A pin 46 is, as shown in FIGURE 5, engaged in alignedapertures 40 and 44 whereby the inner member 36 is supported at aretracted position in the outer sleeve 34. Many modifications of thesemeans will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

As shown in the embodiments of FIGURES and 6, front leg 22 is alsoadapted to be retracted. Front leg 22 comprises an outer tubular sleeve48 rigidly attached to the body of the container. An inner member 52 istelescopically received within the outer tubular sleeve 48 and isretained in the position shown in FIGURES 5 and 6 by means of a pin 54which is inserted into aligned transverse apertures 53 and 55 in theinner member and the outer tubular sleeve, respectively. A lowertransverse aperture 56 is also provided in the outer sleeve forpositioning the leg in its extended or supporting position. Leg 22 isshown to be centrally positioned on the container, so that it issomewhat inaccessible. Means are therefore provided for retracting andextending this leg. This means comprises a crank 58 which rotates ashaft 60 which extends transversely of and is rotatably mounted in theupper ends of sleeve 48. A chain is attached to this shaft and to theinner member, so that rotation of the crank causes the inner member tobe raised or lowered. Similarly as in the case of the rear leg the frontleg is provided with a flat plate 64 on its lower end to provideincreased bearing area of the leg on the ground. The bifurcatedstructure of the trailer allows the trailer to I move to and from itsposition under the container while 7 the front leg is in aground-engaging position.

The centering caps 32 are shown more clearly in FIG- URES 5 and 6. Asshown, the caps comprise downwardly facing conical concavities attachedto the bottom of the container. Preferably the upper ends of the pistonrods 30 have corresponding conical shape for engagement with the conicalconcavity of the centering caps. Thus when the trailer is backed inunder the container it is not necessary that it be positioned at anexact place under the container since the corresponding conicalstructures of the piston rods and the centering caps will cause thecontainer to be moved laterally to the proper position upon engagementof the piston rods with the centering caps.

The structure and method of this invention are also readily adaptablefor use with a bobtail truck, as is shown in FIGURES 7 through 10. Abobtail truck 66 has mounted thereon a container 68 which is providedwith front legs 70 and rear legs 72. The truck bed 74 has attachedthereto a plurality of fluid cylinders '76 each of which is providedwitha piston rod 78. The container 68 has provided on its lower surfacea plurality of centering caps 80 positioned to be engaged by the pistonrods of the fluid cylinders. In the embodiment shown the container has ahinged tail gate 82 and the container is attached to the bed of thetruck by means of a hinge 84 at the rear and the bottom of the containerby means of a removable hinge pin 86. This feature allows dumping of thecontainer by elevation of the piston rods in the front fluid cylinderswhile leaving the rear fluid cylinders inactive in the manner shown inFIGURE 8.

FIGURE 9 depicts container 68 with its legs extended so that it issupported upon the ground. As is shown, the telescopic legs 70 and 72are maintained in their extended position by means of pins 88 which fitinto corresponding holes in the outer and inner members of the legs.As'in the embodiment of FIGURES 1 through 6 4 the legs are provided withflat plates 90 on their lower extremities to provide a greater bearing:area on the ground.

The operation of this embodiment of the invention is similar to that ofthe previous embodiment. When the container is in the position shown inFIGURE 9 the truck may be backed under it and the fluid cylinders 76actuated to cause the piston rods 78 to move upwardly into engagementwith the centering caps 80. The container is thereby lifted off its legsand the pins 88 may then be withdrawn and the inner member of each legbe moved upwardly until the transverse apertures in each inner member isaligned with the upper transverse aperture in the corresponding outermember, at which point the pins 88 are replaced so that the legs areretained in their collapsed position. The pressure is then released fromthe fluid cylinders so that the container is lowered onto the bed of thetruck.

Although the embodiment illustrated by FIGURES 7-10 has a wide range ofutility, its usefulness is somewhat limited by the fact that the frontlegs 70 must be spaced widely enough apart for the rear wheels of thetruck to pass between them when the truck is being moved to a positionto pick up the container, or when the truck is being moved out fromunder a container. This means that the overall width of the unit issometimes greater than is desirable. The embodiment illustrated byFIGURES l1 and 12, however, does not have this disadvantage. Because ofthe novel structure of the truck used in this embodiment, the containermay use a single, centrally positioned front leg instead of two frontlegs, one at each side.

Thus, according to this embodiment of the invention, a truck is providedwith a bifurcated bed 102 comprising a longitudinally extending beam 104forming each side of the bed and attached to each other only bycrossmembers, one of which is shown at 106, at the forward end of thebed. Each side of the bed is supported by an outboard pair of dualwheels 108, each of which is mounted on a stub axle assembly mounted onone of the beams 104. It will be apparent that by virtue of the use ofthe stub axles and the bifurcated bed, an unobstructed longitudinalpassageway 112 extends from the rear of the truck bed to thecross-member 106.

A container 114, shown as. of the van type, although any other knowntype of container may be used, is shown in FIGURE 11 positioned on thetruck bed 102. This container is provided with a pair of extensible rearlegs 116 at either side of the rear of the container, and a singleextensible front leg 118 positioned substantially centrally of the widthof the container at the front of the container. Each leg is providedwith a base plate 120 for increased ground-bearing area. The positionsof these base plates, and their corresponding legs, are indicated bybroken lines in FIGURE 12. As in the other embodiments of the invention,hydraulic cylinders 122 are provided for lifting and lowering thecontainer.

The operation of this embodiment of the invention is similar to that ofthe other embodiments previously described. It should be noted that thenovel truck of this embodiment has no central drive shaft to the rearwheels. Power to these wheels may be supplied by separate drive shaftsdown each side of the bed, or by hydraulic lines leading to hydraulicmotors operably' attached to the wheels. Alternatively, a front wheeldrive may be employed, so that no power need be transmitted to the rearwheels.

FIGURE 13 shows a preferred means for mounting trailer wheels on thebifurcated construction of this invention. A trailer is provided with apair of rearwardly extending spaced apart side frame members 132, 134which form a longitudinally extending well 136 thercbetween. The framemembers are positioned so as to be beneath and provide support for acontainer, as in the embodiments previously described, and are providedwith a plurality of hydraulic cylinders 138 for elevating and loweringthe container. 132, 134 is provided with tandem dual wheels for supportof the rear end of the trailer. The dual wheels are not positionedoutwardly of the frame members however, but instead the frame membersare each supported between the wheels forming each dual pair. Thusmember 132 is positioned between wheels 140 and 141, and between Wheels142 and 143. Similarly, member 134 is positioned between wheels 144 and145, and between wheels 146 and 147. The wheels are otherwise mounted ina conventional manner, either sprung or not, as may be desired.

It will be appreciated that mounting of the wheels in this mannereliminates twisting forces on the side frame members, as would bepresent with outboard wheels as, for example, in the embodiment shown inFIGURE 12. Furthermore, stresses in other elements of the wheel mountingare also greatly reduced so that design of these elements issubstantially simplified.

FIGURE 14 depicts an adaptation of this concept to a bobtail truck. Sideframe members 150 extend rearwardly, and have mounted thereon fluidcylinders 152. Dual wheels 154 and 156 each carry a frame member 150between the wheels of each dual pair. In the embodiment shown, thewheels are driven by hydraulic motors 158 positioned between the wheels.Hydraulic motors 158 are provided with hydraulic fluidunder pressurethrough fluid lines 160, which are fed by a hydraulic pump 162, which isdriven by the truck engine 164. With suitable valving, as is well knownin the art, fluid cylinders 152 may be supplied with hydraulic fluidfrom the same source. It will be appreciated also that braking may besupplied by variation of the hydraulic fluid flow to the wheels, so thatno brake drums are needed on the wheels, so that no brake drums areneeded on the wheels. This allows the wheels to be placed more closelytogether, and therefore provides a wider well, and more room so that thetruck bed may be backed under a container.

FIGURES16, 17, and 18 depict a modification of the bobtail constructionshown in FIGURES 710. The bobtail truck 170 shown in FIGURE 16 does nothave a bifurcated bed, therefore the container 172 mounted thereon isprovided with two front legs 1'74 and two rear legs 176. Front legs 174are laterally extensible, as well as being vertically extensible andretractable. The vertical telescoping leg portion 178 of each leg 174has affixed to its upper end a horizontally extending arm 180. Thehorizontally extending arm is slidably disposed in a trans-' verselyextending recess 182. While being carried on the truck, the legs 174 areas shown on the right side of FIG- URE 17. Upon arriving at the pointwhere the container is to be unloaded, the container is elevated bymeans of the fluid cylinders, and the arms 180 are then pulled 1aterallyout of recess 182 far enough so that the space between legs 174 isgreater than the overall width of the rear wheels of the truck.Vertically extensible portions 178 are then extended downwardly intocontact with the ground and locked into place, as has been previouslydescribed and as is shown in FIGURE 18. The pistons of the fluidcylinders may then be lowered and the truck moved from under thecontainer.

It Will be appreciated that this laterally extensible leg constructionmay also be applied to other embodiments of the invention set forthherein. This structure is valuable because it allows use of a containerof the maximum width to be mounted on a conventional chassis, modifiedonly by the addition of the fluid cylinders for elevating the container.The legs are normally carried beneath the container so that they do notadd to the width of the container While it is being transported, yet maybe moved, upon demounting the container, to a position allowing ampleroom for movement of the rear truck wheels therebetween.

In the embodiment shown, vertical and horizontal portions 178 and 180are shown to be triangular in crosssection, but it will be'apparent thatother cross-sectional configurations may also be used.

Each of frame members.

FIGURES 19 and 20 illustrate an adaptation of this invention to a flatbed trailer. In this embodiment, the trailer 220 is provided with onlythree fluid cylinders, including a single centrally positioned frontcylinder 222 and two rear cylinders 224 mounted on rearwardly extendingside frame members 226. A conventional fifth wheel 228 is provided forattachment to a tractor. This embodiment of the invention illustratesthe adaptability of the construction of the invention to many differentmodifications. The use of three fluid cylinders instead 'of four isadvantageous because it reduces the loads on the side frame members andtherefore permits the use of smaller frame members, resulting in lowerweight and lower cost.

FIGURE 15 illustrates one of the advantageous results obtainable withthe structure of this invention. Where a tank-type container 230 istransported to a location in which liquids are to be unloaded from thecontainer, either immediately or periodically, the container may beunloaded from the truck or trailer in the manner previously describedherein, except that the legs 232 at one end of the container are loweredfarther than the legs 234 at the other end of the container. Then whenthe container is lowered to the ground, it will slope toward one end. Atthis end a metering valve 236 and a discharge hose 238 provide meansthrough which liquid is discharged from the container 230. Thus thecontainer is positioned so that it may be completely unloaded bygravity.

It will be apparent that the structure of this invention has manyadvantages over the standard truck or the tractor-trailer combination. Asingle truck may be used to handle a large number of containers sincethe truck is required only for transporting the containers and need notbe kept idle while the container is being loaded or unloaded. Since thetruck may be devoted entirely to trans porting service and need not beused merely to support a container during the loading and unloading, anowner or operator of trucks may obtain far greater service. from histrucks and therefore can operate with far fewer trucks than haspreviously been possible. This will greatly de crease his investment intrucks and therefore decrease his cost of licensing, insuring andmaintaining his trucks since the containers themselves have no movingparts and would not require any licensing.

It will be apparent that the terms truck bed and trailer are usedinterchangeably herein to define any wheel-supported bed movable by apowered vehicle.

The invention has been described herein in terms of the use of fluidcylinders mounted on the truck bed for raising and lowering containers,however the invention also contemplates the use of other means for thispurpose. For example, screw jacks may be used to elevate the container.Such screw jacks may be positioned as are the fluid cylinders previouslydescribed, and may be operated by a hand crank, or by a power take-offfrom the truck engine. Power may be transmitted to the screw jacksthrough a standard differential and through standard gear and rack orworm and worm wheel components.

Although various embodiments of this invention have been shown anddescribed herein the invention is not limited to such embodiments. Itwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that many other types ofcontainers may be used in the structure of this invention. For example,the container may be of the Van type, or may be a flat bed float. Thecontainer may be refrigerated, as for use to store and transport frozenfoods. A tank type container may be used for handling liquids.Furthermore, many modifications of the extensible support means will beapparent. The invention is therefore limited only as defined by thefollowing claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus comprising, in combination, a bifurcated truck bed havingan unobstructed passageway extending longitudinally thereof from therear of the truck bed to near the forward end of the truck bed, acontainer resting on said truck bed, a pair of retractableground-engageable supports on the rear of said container, a retractableground-engageable support on the front of said container and positionedcentrally laterally thereof, means for retaining said supports in aretracted position, means for retaining said supports in aground-engaging position, a plurality of fluid cylinders mounted on saidtruck bed positioned beneath said container, an upwardly movable pistonrod in each of said cylinders adapted to engage said container, and aplurality of downwardly facing conical concavities on said container,each of which is positioned to be engaged by one of said piston rods.

2. Apparatus comprising (a) a bifurcated truck bed having anunobstructed passageway extending longitudinally thereof from the rearof the truck bed to near the forward end of the truck bed,

(b) a container having a usable width substantially equal to the widthof said truck bed removably supported on top of said truck bed over saidpassageway,

(c) retractable ground-engageable. supports afiixed to the rear of thecontainer and adapted to be moved downwardly to engage the ground behindthe truck bed while the container is supported on the truck bed,

(d) a retractable ground-engageable support aifixed to the containerbeneath and near the front of the truck bed adapted to be moveddownwardly through the passageway to engage the ground below thepassageway while the container is supported on the truck bed,

(e) means for retaining said supports in a retracted position,

(if) means for retaining said supports in a groundengaging position, and

(g) means on said truck bed adapted to engage said container to elevateit to a position above said truck bed.

3. Apparatus comprising (a) a bifurcated truck bed having anunobstructed passageway extending longitudinally thereof from the rearof the truck bed to near the forward end of the truck bed,

(b) a container having a usable Width substantially equal to the widthof said truck bed removably supported on top of said truck bed over saidpassageway,

(c) retractable ground-engageable supports afiixed to the container nearthe rear and within the width of the container and adapted to be moveddownwardly to engage the ground behind the truck bed while the containeris supported on the truck bed,

(d) a retractable ground-engageable support aflixed to the containernear the front of the truck bed adapted to be moved downwardly throughthe passageway to engage the ground below the passageway while thecontainer is supported on the truck bed,

(e) means for retaining said supports in a retracted position,

(f) means for retaining said supports in a ground-engaging position, and

(g) means on said truck bed within the Width of said container adaptedto engage said container to elevate it to a position above said truckbed.

4-. Apparatus as defined by claim 2, wherein a single front support ispositioned substantially centrally laterally of said unobstructedpassageway.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,048,580 7/1936Webber 214-515 2,517,304 8/1950 Greening 214--515 2,547,269 4/1951Kinsey 214390 2,693,288 11/1954 Black 214-515 X 2,772,008 11/1956 Martin214-152 2,788,983 4/1957 Barenyi 280106 2,855,213 10/1958 Gerhardt280106 2,868,401 1/1959 Le Lois 2l4-152 2,956,699 10/1960 Payne 214515 X2,985,482 5/1961 Lion 214-515 3,001,662 9/1961 Herpich 2201.5 3,140,0057/1964 Hand 220-1.5

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

A. I. MAKAY, Assistant Examiner.

1. APPARATUS COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A BIFURCATED TRUCK BED HAVING AN UNOBSTRUCTED PASSAGEWAY EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF FROM THE REAR OF THE TRUCK BED TO NEAR THE FORWARD END OF THE TRUCK BED, A CONTAINER RESTING ON SAID TRUCK BED, A PAIR OF RETRACTABLE GROUND-ENGAGEABLE SUPPORTS ON THE REAR OF SAID CONTAINER, A RETRACTABLE GROUND-ENGAGEABLE SUPPORT ON THE FRONT OF SAID CONTAINER AND POSITIONED CENTRALLY LATERALLY THEREOF, MEANS FOR RETAINING SAID SUPPORTS IN A RETRACTED POSITION, MEANS FOR RETAINING SAID SUPPORTS IN A GROUND-ENGAGING POSITION, A PLURALITY OF FLUID CYLINDERS MOUNTED ON SAID TRUCK BED POSITIONED BENEATH SAID CONTAINER, AN UPWARDLY MOVABLE PISTON ROD IN EACH OF SAID CYLINDERS ADAPTED TO ENGAGE SAID CONTAINER, AND A PLURALITY OF DOWNWARDLY FACING CONICAL CONCAVITIES ON SAID CONTAINER, EACH OF WHICH IS POSITIONED TO BE ENGAGED BY ONE OF SAID PISTON RODS. 